Modern homeopathy dwells in a nebulous and metaphysical realm into which few non-homeopathic doctors would venture; a very different world and speaking a language virtually incomprehensible to science. Fundamentally incompatible systems, their highly sophisticated conceptions of “disease” and “cure” are sufficiently divergent to prevent their peaceful coexistence. Can the best of modern scientific medicine be reconciled with this recently resuscitated “medical Lazarus”? Could a creative dialogue be established? This article explores the development of modern homeopathic thinking between 1830 and 1920, charting a discourse within homeopathy initiated in the 1830s with reference to use of “higher potencies” and disease products (“nosodes”). Incorporation of disease products into the homeopathic mainstream killed off and supplanted the earlier allopathic version of homeopathy, encouraged the use of higher potencies, and legitimated a widespread adoption of metaphysical views within the movement, here termed “transcendental homeopathy”.Long before the birth of bacteriotherapy ... homeopathic physicians carried out investigation in their own way, and discovered similar medicines, and effected numerous cures ... Hydrophobium was proved in 1833 ... 50 years before Pasteur ... many others followed.1
This paper explores some of the conceptual issues that arise when comparing homeopathy with the mainstream medical system, both in terms of their underpinning philosophies and in their treatment methods, and especially when applied to the problem of cancer. A review is under-taken of the key concepts that underpin both medical approaches: the holistic approach of homeopathy and the reductionist approach of mainstream medicine. The article closes with a discussion of the emerging conflicts between classical homeopathy and the Banerji protocols.
This article examines the timeline of Hahnemann's publications between 1777 and 1819 to reveal the year he most likely moved away from chemistry and returned to the study and practice of medicine.
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